JMP Securities Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Stock

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its price target lifted by JMP Securities from $47.00 to $61.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. JMP Securities currently has a market outperform rating on the stock.

VERX has been the topic of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Vertex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.27.

Vertex Trading Up 1.3 %

Vertex stock opened at $51.99 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market cap of $8.09 billion, a PE ratio of 288.83, a P/E/G ratio of 14.22 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.66. Vertex has a 12 month low of $22.63 and a 12 month high of $52.93.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.02. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 25.27%. The firm had revenue of $161.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.04 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Vertex will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John R. Schwab sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.81, for a total transaction of $895,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,654.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO John R. Schwab sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.81, for a total value of $895,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,654.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 56,419 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.77, for a total value of $2,300,202.63. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 932,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,026,423.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,629,244 shares of company stock worth $64,039,589 over the last three months. Insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VERX. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in Vertex during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex by 126.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Vertex in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank purchased a new position in Vertex in the second quarter worth approximately $68,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.10% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Company Profile

Vertex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides enterprise tax technology solutions for retail trade, wholesale trade, and manufacturing industries in the United States and internationally. The company offers tax determination; compliance and reporting, including workflow management tools, role-based security, and event logging; tax data management; document management; analytics and insights; pre-built integration that includes mapping data fields, and business logic and configurations; industry-specific solutions; and technology specific solutions, such as chain flow accelerator and SAP-specific tools.